BICOM

Israel’s Defence Ministry announced yesterday that dozens of attempts to smuggle military equipment into the Gaza Strip, including drone parts and rifle scopes, have been thwarted over recent weeks.

The equipment was intercepted at the Erez border crossing, having been sent via Israel’s postal service. A joint operation of Israel’s border authorities, police, the Shin Bet security agency and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, prevented the packages from entering Gaza. In addition to drone parts and rifle scopes, they included radio receivers, mobile phone signal boosters and 5.8 GHz video transmitters, which are banned for private use in both Israel and the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of the West Bank. An investigation will apparently be launched in an attempt to locate the source of the packages.

Israel places restrictions on some dual-use goods entering the Gaza Strip in order to prevent Hamas from importing materials used for armaments and military infrastructure. Israeli authorities have intercepted prohibited goods on numerous occasions since Operation Protective Edge in 2014. Hamas is thought to be rearming, replenishing its arsenal of rockets, while it openly admits to rebuilding the complex network of tunnels designed to attack Israel.

Last week, Israel’s Defence Ministry announced that a “large shipment” of equipment to construct rockets and tunnels, heading for the Gaza Strip had been intercepted. The illicit materials were camouflaged among textiles and jewellery. Earlier this month, the Israel Tax Authority announced that the Shin Bet had intercepted an especially large quantity of salt at the Nitzana Crossing into the Gaza Strip. Inside the salt, officials found four tons of ammonium chloride in bags, which is typically used in large quantities to propel rockets. The incident came just days after Israel’s Defence Ministry said that it plans to re-open the Erez border crossing to increase the flow of goods into the Gaza Strip.